Cloud Flying in Banos
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2007
1
8
18
Trip End
Jan 21, 2007
Banos,
Ecuador
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Sorry for the delay, but Banos experienced a general Internet failure yesterday and no Internet shop was able to provide Internet access to anyone. I guess the lava flow damage from those few months ago is still affecting daily life...Anyone, here we go, a day late!
On Thursday, we left early to catch some flights at the Banos launch that was nearly blown out Wednesday evening... Fortunately, the sky was cloudy and the wind was calm and strait... But the cloud cover was rather low... Jean-Roch and Martin took off first under Henri's guidance and both had lots of fun just below the cloud cover, playing in the constant dynamic wind coming up the ridge. Jean-Roch successfully executed his first top landing (landing on top of the mountain, on the launch site) and I then jumped into the lift and joined Martin. Unfortunately, I hit hit some sink instead of some lift, so I quickly turned back and 'rammed' gently into the farmers field just above the launch, with the wind at my back... Not a good landing at all, but everything was soft. What was really fun, was that I was able to just turn around and jump back into the air since I was just above the launch site! You have no idea how fun this is!!! Being able to land and then jump back in... Super fun. Martin and I passed each other a few times and I followed him back over the launch as we were crabbing back and forth along the ridge. At one point, I gained more altitude than him and headed back along the ridge, away from the launch.
Banos Sunrise
Not long after, the cloud cover dropped a little and I found myself surrounded by a big milky white mist... Impossible to see anywhere around, above or below me... Panic struck for a few moments, but I remembered something Benoit and Michel told me earlier from their cloud flying experience: DO NOT PANICK! Keep flying strait where you are and then decide what to do next. That's exactly what I did. I first assessed the situation: ridge right behind me somewhere, Martin below me somewhere or above the launch and high power electric lines somewhere below to my far right. Ok, all this happened within a few seconds mind you, I then decided that the best course of action would be to continue flying strait into what should be the valley in front of the ridge. As I did, I saw Martin fly by right below me to my right. This encouraged me to fly farther ahead. Then, I started getting a lot of lift from the cloud suck, so I decided I advanced far enough to start dropping below the cloud cover and take a peak at where I was exactly. I made some pretty big 'big ears' and eventually dropped below the cloud cover. Happily, I found the farms and fields below me and the volcano far away in front of me. I had advanced into the valley. A quick peak behind me to my left confirmed that the launch was still within reach and clear of clouds and that Martin was nowhere to be found. So, maintaining my 'big ears', I weight-shifted (turned with my body weight since both brakes where in my hands that were holding the big ears down) towards the launch site, with the wind at my back to get there as soon as possible and, I tried to weight-shift into a forward-facing direction to land facing the valley (as if launching), but I was coming in so fast with the big ears and I didn't want to let them go and get sucked back up or behind the mountain, I ended up executing a tight weight-shift turn just before landing and landed safely.
Dogs Live on Roofs in Ecuador
It was a very intense 10-15 minutes of being lost in the cloud, but my theory merged with my practice in order to get me safely back. All in all, I am very satisfied with the experience and now know that clouds must be closely observed and avoided as much as possible!We spent the rest of the day sampling toffee (yes, Banos is also Ecuador's toffee centre!), made from pure sugar cane and fruit juice. It was great and I've included a video of the manufacturing process to this post... Later in the evening, Michel and I went to sit in the famous hot springs, tapped right into the volcano behind our hostel! We could see the pipes going into the mountain, behind a tall rushing water fall. It was very relaxing... We chatted and floated from the super hot pool (46'C I believe) to the super cold pool (10'C?) back and forth... VERY refreshing... The bath house is public and is ALWAYS filled with many locals and a few 'gringos' (tourists). For supper, Henri reserved a special something for us in a tiny well-known restaurant since we had been talking about it for a while: CUY (the Spanish word for GUINEA PIG)! It was great! It had the same consistency as chicken, but it tastes a lot more 'wild'. Very good indeed. In fact, all the courses of our big meal were excellent. I can now leave Ecuador with my stomach in peace...
Comments
Vol dans les nuages
Bonsoir Christian (green_ears),pas tres rassurant ce vol dans les nuages!... J'ose esperer que vous etes tous prudents! Bons vols et je vous les souhaite longs, calmes, paisibles et plein de belles photos aeriennes. Tourlou, Francine.